Drop your writing disguise this Halloween

Drop your writing disguise this Halloween

31 October, 2007 Posted by Joanna As Podcasts

Halloween’s a day for costumes and masks, for tricks and disguises. But without wanting to be a party pooper - when it comes to your writing it’s better to drop the disguise.

Dropping your writing disguise is the theme for this week’s podcast (4 mins 09 secs).

Tune in for 5 Halloween-inspired steps to clear, authentic writing:

Take off the mask - it’s great for rapport

Leave the costume behind - don’t pretend to be someone you’re not

Don’t trick your readers - transparency counts

Don’t cloak your writing - cut and edit excess words and visual clutter to reveal the power of your unadorned message

Don’t wait for the witching hour - don’t wait for the perfect conditions before you start to write. It’s more fun to get started and learn as you go

A commitment to clear and authentic writing is enough to get you started: to say what you mean and mean what you say. That way you can party on with your writing not just for one night - but throughout the year….

You can tune in to the show by following this link, or playing (or downloading) it from my GCast page. If you want to make sure you don’t miss future episodes you can also subscribe to the Confident Writing podcast feed.

This show is the final contribution to the October series on writing with clarity - subscribe to the feed for next month’s writing fest, on writing to establish a powerful connection.

I’m still thinking about how to capture the learning points from writing with clarity. You can read the summary page here - but I’m thinking something a little more creative is called for. Inspiration struck this morning - but I’ve still to experiment with the possibilities. Will keep you posted.

Probably not an e-book though - as I’m still smiling at the results of the last one on writing with authenticity: The Courage to Hear Yourself Sing. Click the link to download your own free copy.

Joanna Young, The Confident Writing Coach
Because our words count

Photo credit: Flickr

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Categories : Podcasts

Comments

Brad Shorr October 31, 2007

Hi Joanna, I learned a lot from you and your guests about clarity this month, and was happy to contribute. I have one question - where do you get your fantastic images? That mask is outstanding!

Rosa Say October 31, 2007

So wonderful to start my day with your podcast Joanna! Happy Halloween!

As you know, I am intent on learning new media, and your weekly podcasts are keeping all the audio possibilities in mind … mahalo for your coaching

Joanna Young October 31, 2007

Hi Brad

I’m glad you’ve enjoyed it and thank you again for guest writing. You’re welcome back anytime!

The photos come from a variety of sources.

I often start at yotophoto because it searches a number of sites for free, usable photos.

http://yotophoto.com/

This mask for example (which I agree is totally stunning) came from flickr, with a picture posted with a creative commons license.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22017189@N00/9648389/

You can search on flickr for pictures with those licenses - but yotophoto does the same thing and searches other sites too that I’ve used like morguefile (now there’s a good word for you)

Sometimes if I can’t find what I want - especially for materials that are going to last like the sidebar images, the coaching toolkit I’m working on or the authentic writing e-book I’ll buy photos from istockphoto.

http://www.istockphoto.com/index.php

They have some amazing stuff.

The customised images (like the clear writing one from the other day) come from Imagechef. You can do some fun stuff there (and I think that’s where my seekers for information on bling writing come from!!)

http://www.imagechef.com/

I might write a blog about this (when I can find time!) partly to find out what sources other people use too

Hope this helps

Joanna

Joanna Young October 31, 2007

Well Rosa, we have been inspiring each other day because I started off my halloween enjoying your fantastic photo-album of October highlights

What a great idea!

http://www.sayleadershipcoaching.com/mwacoaching/2007/10/kkou-in-pictu-1.html

Joanna

PS I can’t wait to hear your first podcast

Brad Shorr November 1, 2007

Thanks for the photo tips, Joanna. They help!